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Eluper
Elupers (''Eoalulavis molestus) ''are primitive birds that have remained unchanged for millions of years, they are the only living species of the genus Eoalulavis, the only other species of the genus was Eoalulavis hoyasi which lived around 125 million years ago. Elupers show a few differences from modern birds such as a long tail. Elupers are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white. They typically have harsh wailing or squawking calls that sound like they are saying "eluper! eluper! eluper!", hence the name. They have large hooked bills, and webbed feet. Elupers are ground-nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. Live food often includes crabs and small fish. Elupers are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea. They are typically long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 49 years recorded. Elupers nest in large, densely packed noisy colonies. They lay two to three speckled eggs in nests composed of vegetation. The young are precocial, being born with dark mottled down, and mobile upon hatching. Elupers are resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent birds, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. For example, many eluper colonies display mobbing behaviour, attacking and harassing would-be predators and other intruders. this is extremely annoying to fluffons as the elupers swarm and try to knock the fluffons off their ducks. Elupers have been observed preying on live Bellybons, landing on the bellybon as it sleeps in the ocean to peck out pieces of flesh. Description and morphology Elupers range in size from 140cm, to 150 cm long. They are generally uniform in shape, with heavy bodies, long wings, moderately long necks. Their tails are unusually long with a fan of feathers at the end. Elupers have moderately long legs with fully webbed feet. The bill is generally heavy and slightly hooked. The bill colour is a dull yellow. Elupers colouration is usually a light grey but they can also be white. Elupers are generalist feeders, indeed they are the least specialised of all the seabirds, and their morphology allows for equal adeptness in swimming, flying and walking. They are more adept walking on land than most other seabirds. The walking gait of elupers includes a slight side to side motion, something that can be exaggerated in breeding displays. In the air they are quite clumbsy and able to hover in strong wind, they are also able to take off quickly with little space. Distribution and habitat Elupers have a worldwide cosmopolitan distribution. They breed on every continent, and are found in the high Arctic as well. Many species breed in coastal colonies, with a preference for islands. There is considerable variety in the places where they may breed and feed including marine, freshwater or terrestrial habitats. Behaviour Diet and feeding Elupers are highly adaptable feeders that opportunistically take a wide range of prey. The food taken by elupers includes fish and marine and freshwater invertebrates, both alive and already dead, terrestrial arthropods and invertebrates such as insects and earthworms, rodents, eggs, carrion, offal, reptiles, amphibians, plant items such as seeds and fruit, human refuse, and even other birds. In addition to taking a wide range prey items elupers display great versatility in how they obtain prey. Prey can be obtained in the air, on water or on land. In the air they are able to attack prey on the wing such as other birds and insects. Elupers on the wing will also snatch items both off water and off the ground, and over water they will also plunge-dive to catch prey. Food is also obtained by searching the ground, often on the shore among sand, mud or rocks. While overall feeding success is a function of age, the diversity in both prey and feeding methods is not. It has been suggested that the time taken to learn foraging skills explains the delayed maturation in elupers. Breeding Elupers are monogamous and colonial breeders that display mate fidelity that usually lasts for the life of the pair. Divorce of mated pairs does occur, but it apparently has a social cost that persists for a number of years after the break up. Elupers also display high levels of site fidelity, returning to the same colony after breeding there once and even usually breeding in the same location within that colony. Colonies can vary from just a few pairs to over a hundred thousand pairs. Within colonies Eluper pairs are territorial, defending an area of varying size around the nesting site from predators by swarming around them and dive bombing, elupers commonly swarm around fluffons and knock them off their ducks while in mid-flight. This area can be as large as a 50 m radius around the nesting site. Most elupers breed once a year and have predictable breeding seasons lasting for three to five months. Elupers begin to assemble around the colony for a few weeks prior to occupying the colony. Existing pairs re-establish their pair-bonds, and unpaired birds begin courting. Elupers then move back in to their territories and new males establish new territories and attempt to court females. They defend their territories from rivals of both sexes as well as other animals through calls and aerial attacks. Clutch size is typically three eggs. The eggs of elupers are usually dark tan to brown or dark olive with dark splotches and scrawl markings, and are well camouflaged. Both sexes incubate the eggs, with incubation bouts lasting between one and four hours during the day and one parent incubating through the night. Incubation lasts between 22 and 26 days, and begins after laying the first egg. Young chicks are brooded by their parents for about one or two weeks, and often at least one parent will remain with them until they fledge in order to guard them. Both parents feed the chicks, although early on in the rearing period the male does most of the feeding and the female most of the brooding and guarding.